Search Engine BasicsSearch engines are designed to provide the most relevant and popular search results for a search query! Search results are ranked by the popularity and quality of the web page, and how useful and relevant it is to the user’s query.
In order for search engines generate relevant results, they rely on more than just the right words. Today, many factors influence how relevant a web page is for search engines. Search engines operate with the assumption that the more popular a site, page or document, the more value it provides users. This assumption has been critical for providing high quality search results.
Popularity and relevance are not determined manually. Search engines use algorithms to determine which web pages are relevant and how to rank them by popularity. These algorithms contain many factors that are known as ranking factors, and change regularly.
View SEO DIY Checklist
Search Engine Verticals
Popular search engines, like Google and Bing, categorize search results into Verticals.
There are several search engine verticals that you can take advantage of, depending on their relevance to your business products and services. Producing content within these popular verticals can help you take over the 1st page of search results:
- Paid search results
- Image search results
- Video search results
- News search results
- Maps search results
- Shopping search results
How Long Will It Take To Boost Your Ranking?
There are 3 major factors that will determine how fast you can get on the 1st page of search engine results:
Where do you rank right now?
How strong are your competitors online?
Search engine algorithm changes that may penalize your website
Your SEO Strategy
The key to Search Engine Optimization is consistency – SEO is an ongoing process that general shows results within 2-3 months. Be consistent and patient, search engine spiders must crawl and re-index your web pages before you’ll see results.
There are SEO tasks that need to be done once to ensure your website is search engine friendly, these include:
- Keyword research
- Content optimization
- Fixing technical issues
- Site structure optimization
There are also ongoing SEO tasks that should be a part of any business SEO Strategy, these include:
- Fresh content
- Link building
- Directory submissions
- Press Releases